Raven's Stay with Mister Red X
by Falcongod
Summary: In medias res. Raven wakes up to find herself taken mysteriously captive by Red X. She expects the worst, but for some reason Red X is doing his best to behave 'gentlemanly' toward his guest.
1. Prologue

_I am awakened by some terribly foreboding sounds: A blaring horn, the screeching of tires, the driver mumbling some sort of expletive. __I groggily mumble my holy words, but it is too late. The last things I remember are those huge headlights flooding us with light._

* * *

**Prologue: Morning**

My eyes open. Giant curtains allowing me to see the world and shut it out whenever I wish. The curtains move at a snail's pace today. Which is just as well because the world's stage is quite dreary right now. However, dreary mornings are merely one of the consequences of having no windows in my room. I try to rise up out of my bed but stop myself. These surroundings... Where are my books? Where's my dresser? Where's my mirror?

This is not my room. Worry rushes through my blood and my heart quickens. I glance down at myself and the river of fear tightens it's grip on me. This is not my bed, this is not a bed at all. It's a cold, metal chair. And I'm chained to it like convicted felon. I am chained to a freaking metal chair!

My legs are shackled to the chair's own legs. Strong metal wires wrap around my waist and tie me to the chair. They dig menacingly into my stomach and hamper my breathing. I cannot move my left arm, but my right arm seems to be free. I glance anxiously around the shadowy room, but can make out nothing except for the most basic of shapes. I clutch at my cloak and draw it close to my chest. But even its familiarity has been marred. No longer is it a pure and silky blue, it is now encrusted with a dark and evil red. Blood.

I throw down the fabric in disgust and desperately try to regain my bearings. It's okay, everything is going to be fine. I've survived much worse situations, and I will survive this too. I just have to calm down. Breathe Raven, you just need to calm down...

_I'm in a flowery meadow. As I stroll through the flora, I hear the soft melody of a trickling brook. There is a patch of shade under an apple tree, so I sit down and wait. I don't have to wait long for what I want. Already, I see that someone who holds a flickering candle is approaching me. It is mother. She is dressed all in white and is coming to hum me a lullaby. She won't leave me until all my troubles have dissolved..._

My visual meditation seems to be working, for the tornado of emotions has come to a stop. However, I quickly discover that I am only in the eye of the storm, for as soon as I decide that there's nothing to fear, a new question enters my thoughts.

"Where am I?" I wonder aloud. Silently hoping that someone will conveniently come walking up and explain everything to me. But I have no such luck. I never had good luck before in my life, so why should I expect that to change now?

A sigh of defeat escapes me, and I let my mind wander aimlessly while my eyes adjust to the darkness. Without thinking, my hand finds its way to the place where my communicator should be. Of course, whoever imprisoned me had taken it away, but it was worth a try. I take another look around the room. It is dark, but I am fairly certain that the walls are made of concrete. Stacks of cardboard boxes hide most of the room, yet I can still make out a few important details.

There are only two entrances into this cell, and they stand on opposite walls. Also, there are no windows on the walls, nor even any doors on the entrances. I must be in an underground bunker somewhere because there isn't a shred of sunlight anywhere. Or maybe it's still night time. Either way, an idea comes to me. A desperate little last hope of mine. After looking around one last time to make sure the plan will work, I close my eyes, and do something that I haven't done in a long, long time.

I scream. A shrilly, high-pitched scream that I will never admit to having. Even as I hear the shriek echoing against the many walls, I can't help but gag at how terribly feminine it sounds. It makes me sick, but it will do. If there is anyone even remotely close to this building, then they will hear the scream. As for people who are in the building...

Well, they will hear a distinct ringing sound until their ears finally stop bleeding. All I have to do is wait and hope. However, my heart is sinking, for I hear no footsteps racing towards me. No voices complaining about the scream, no response at all. The place seems entirely empty. Which is why I nearly fall out of my chair when I hear him say:

"Geez, give a warning before you do that."

I freeze; my eyes widen. I know who owns that voice, and he just heard me scream like a little girl. I frantically try to locate the voice's origin but cannot find it.

"Come now," says Red X while he steps out from behind a stack of boxes. "Don't you have anything to say to me? You did just rudely awake me after all."

I furrow my brow. Who does this jerk think he is? He expects an apology after he kidnaps me!?

I spit out the words: "Where am I?"

Red X grins, or at least I think he does, behind his mask.

"Don't you remember anything about yesterday at all?"

He must have read the blank expression on my face, for he doesn't wait for an answer.

"Heh heh, in that case allow me to welcome you to Day Four of your stay with Mister Red X."

As the words sink in, Red X leans over my shoulder and whispers:

"I hope you enjoy your visit."


	2. Day Four: Before Noon

**Day Four: Before Noon**

"_...welcome to Day Four of your stay with Mister Red X...I hope you enjoy your visit..."_

The words thunder through my mind like a raging river. How can that possibly be? Four days! No, that's certainly not possible.

"Liar!" I scream, "Tell me what's really going on."

My captor chuckles and reaches out with one of his gloved hands. My blood boils as he caresses my cheek with his silky hand. I have half a mind to tell him off, when he finally grabs my chin and directs my gaze toward him.

"Be reasonable dearie," whispers the conniving devil. "What could I possibly gain from lying to you?"

I squint my eyes and peer directly into my captor's soul. He appears to be doing the same to me. Though his demeanor reveals nothing more than the blackness of his exterior. My attempts to enter his mind all end in failure, for I cannot focus while anger has such a firm grip on me. All too aware that he still awaits my answer, I form my lips into a tight 'o' shape. Then, for his head is so close to mine, I spit right into face. I observe in satisfaction as his head jerks back in disgust and he lets go of my chin.

"That depends," I say with my head held high, "On what it is you hope to gain."

The scum of the streets wipes his chin and paces about the room like a black cat stalking its prey. His padded footsteps, slow and calculated, whisper his disguised intentions to me. The predator has already captured its next meal, but he prefers to play around with me first.

"Oh my," Purrs the black cat. "How rude you are being to me, today. I hope we can put this behind us by afternoon tea my love."

My teeth grind against each other during his speech. The world tenses up as I try to contain the vehement flames which are bubbling up like lava from some dark pit within my soul, but I cannot stop them.

"I will never," Hiss the cackling flames, "sit down at any table as your guest; let alone your love."

The hellish powers continue to surge forth from the sulfuric pit where I keep them imprisoned. While those evil thoughts fester within me, my captor stalks around the room and pauses when he reaches my blindspot; when he is within striking distance.

"I'm sure I'll be able to persuade you into attending by mealtime. But if I can't..."

The black cat mews to himself and sets both of his paws on my shoulders.

"Well, you don't have much of a choice do you?"

I can hardly comprehend his words for my mind is occupied by something else. Red X has rested his grubby paws on my shoulders. Sure, his claws may be sheathed now, but allowing him to remain in this position would be like asking him to hurt me. So I writhe and twist my body around in an attempt to break his grip, but my shackles are too restraining and his grip is too tight; I cannot break away from his clutches. All the while, those vehement flames are spreading to more and more places inside of my soul.

"Calm down Mademoiselle Raven, you are too tense. Allow me to give you a relaxing back rub..."

However, the vehement flames have now commandeered complete control of my body and they lash out at my captor screaming:

"Don't you dare lay a finger on me!"

The black cat recoils at the sound of my serpent's tongue, but he shows no fear of my demonic side. Red X doesn't know what he's dealing with. I almost feel sorry for him. My captor retracts his hands and whispers in my left ear.

"Are you feeling okay Raven?"

The flames command my body to spin around and face my victim, and I have no choice but to obey. The room's walls spin into a blur for a second, then they slow to a stop and Red X is now right in front of me. The effort of turning around has caused the shackles to cut into my legs and stomach like barbed wire, but those injuries won't hurt me until my blood stops boiling. Instead, with the vehement flames burning brightly through my four eyes, I hear my father menacingly say.

"Run away, you little coward. Run away or I shall kill you."

No father. Please don't kill the boy. I don't want to kill him. I don't kill people... But Trigon refuses to honor my pleas. I silently scream to Red X; urging him to flee, but he cannot hear me. Instead, the victim remains at my side. He is frozen, as if he is too scared to know what to do. I beg him again to leave, but my voice is drowned out by my father's rage.

"Have you no fear? Fine! I will show you what you have to fear."

Help me mother! Sing me a lullaby and drive away this evil demon. Help me... But I know that the lady in white has left me long ago.

Trigon readies my powers to kill Red X, and I am helpless to do anything to stop him. I arch my head toward him and try whisper to him the word "_escape"_, but I haven't enough control of my actions to do even that.

So he remains by my side, unaware of the danger he is in. While I am trying to whisper warnings to him, he seems to be whispering something back to me. But I cannot understand what he is trying to say. I need to do something. I need to stop Trigon.

But how? Relax Raven, you just need to breathe...

_I am back in my flowery meadow, but now there's something different about the place. No, there's something different about me. There's still the same babbling brook, but I'm older now. I'm less of a child and far less innocent. I have stopped pretending things and am starting to see the truth. Mother's candle lays unlit at my feet. There's still a lot of wax left in the candle and it could have lasted much longer. Someone must have blown it out early..._

_A cold wind shivers through my body, and a fog rolls over the meadow as I begin to get misty-eyed. But before I let tears fall from me, I look up and see a different candle's light piercing through the fog. Someone dressed all in white is approaching me. I can't make out the person's features, but I know that it's not my mother; I'm sure of that. The person draws closer to me, and I still can't recognize their face. I'm not afraid of the person though. I've only met a few people in my flowery meadow, and I'm never afraid of any of them. The candle bearer is right next to me now. He uses his free hand to grab my own. He sings to me in a soothing voice._

_"I'm here for you Raven. Don't worry, I'm right here..."_

_I know who owns that calm voice, but I don't care. I let him comfort me anyways. I let Red X drive away Trigon._


	3. Day Four: Afternoom

**Day Four: Afternoon**

_"I'm here for you Raven. Don't worry, I'm right here..."_

_That's what the boy in the meadow says while I bury my face in his shoulder. His gentle voice blankets my ears with that honey sweet lullaby and reminds me that I am not alone. He keeps saying those same words while I silently confide my sorrows to him. Like a small child, I try to release all of my emotions before I have to leave my flowery meadow, for I know that I can not show them anywhere else._

"I'm here for you Raven. Don't worry, I'm right here..."

Because of his reassuring words, I return from my meditations with a softened heart. Like a gentleman honoring his word, Red X is still right next to me when I open my dampened eyes. I'm no longer shackled to the metal chair. Red X must have freed me from it while I was in my fit of rage. He is hugging me and gently stroking my violet hair. The right side of my head is pressed up against his chest and I can feel the steady beating of his heart. He has tilted his head so that it rests softly on mine. It's hard to believe that this is really happening; he is treating me like a friend. Also, he is MUCH too close. I pull away.

"Raven, do you still wish to kill me?"

My back is turned to Red X, but I can sense him reaching out to me. However, I will not face him. I cannot face him. He is scum, a low-life, a criminal. How could I possibly look kindly upon such a disgrace? Yet, hidden beneath the mask, his true self has always been a mystery. Who is he really?

"Leave me alone,"

While saying that, I turn toward the enigmatic boy with a small smile on my face to appease him. Red X is not fooled though, he walks right up to me. As he gets closer and closer, a flush of warmness rushes over me. However, when he reaches out and grabs my chin, the room freezes over. I shiver.

The coldness of his touch mingles with the warmness of my soul and they stir up a tornado of uncertainty inside me. His hand still on my chin, he slightly elevates my head until our eyes meet. His masked glare pierces through me and shatters the vault where my secrets are kept. I try to do the same to him, but his skull-shaped mask prevents me from learning his thoughts.

"Were you?" Says the boy who is shrouded in black as he notes my puffy eyes. "Were you crying?"

Red X has found the glass wall in my heavy fortress. The one weakness in the series of walls I've built to keep others out. Will he shatter my defenses and mock me? Or simply be content to look through the glass window and leave me be?

"I don't cry." I assert, but he is already expressing his disbelief before my mouth finishes relaying the words to him; the thief has picked up a stone and malignantly approaches the glass wall of my fortress.

"You WERE crying," Says Red X. "Heh, heh. So... little miss invincible isn't as stoic as she'd like me to think."

The stone has been cast. It spins through the air and crashes into the wall of glass; turning it into nothing more than a shower of falling shards. My eyes are shut, yet I still try to close them tighter. I remain silent. How could I say anything at all? I built that fortress to feel safe. I wouldn't trust anyone enough to let them in it. Not after what has happened before. I mustn't let the thief in.

Red X realizes his mistake. His fists clench up, then relax; as if he is trying to restrain himself. I can tell that he is formulating a way to change the subject to something more pleasant. He is trying to rebuild the wall he broke. Or perhaps the thief is afraid of being caught after hearing the cacophony of falling glass. It is too soon to determine his true intentions. Either way, he appears willing to leave me alone. The way I ought to be.

Finally, he says in an incredibly phony voice.

"I didn't mean to upset you, but there's something you should know. It's okay to cry. In fact, it's better to cry than it is too keep things inside. Especially when you have been hurt. Are you?"

The enigma stumbles for words. I can tell that he's merely reciting some maxim that he memorized elsewhere. The masked villain is obviously holding back his true feelings; he's just telling me what he thinks I want to hear. What a terribly pathetic facade. He continues:

"Are you in any pain?"

Am I in any pain? Am I in any pain? Of course I'm in pain! Not as much pain as I'd expect to be in... But still, what a stupid question to ask. It's like asking a man stranded in the desert if he's thirsty. What's with Red X? He's trying way too hard to get close to me. If he won't leave me alone, then I must force him away.

I turn my back to him; making sure to slap him with my blood-stained cloak as I do.

"I told you. I'm fine."

He doesn't believe me, and I don't blame him. Not even Beastboy would be fooled by that statement.

"Raven, there's blood on your clothes."

I refuse to face him, "I know. It's been on my cloak since I woke up."

"Raven, there's FRESH blood on your clothes."


	4. Day Four: Late Afternoon

**Day Four: Late Afternoon**

_"Raven, there's FRESH blood on your clothes."_

My head dips down. Sure enough, my leotard is torn near the waist and a growing pool of blood is trickling from it. These wounds... They must have occurred when Trigon's rage had taken control of me. Freaking Trigon. This is all Trigon's fault! I would have noticed these serious wounds if I wasn't so busy suppressing the hatred I inherited from him. I would have escaped by now if he hadn't exhausted all my power. I would have done so many things if not for him.

Now, I have to suffer the embarrassment of this... miscreant noticing my wounds for me. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Red X reaching out to me. What ignorance. Doesn't he know that he's the cause of most of my problems?

"Get away from me. I can heal myself."

"Look! I'm just trying to help. I'm just trying to do something nice for once. Besides, if you weren't powerful enough to heal yourself a few days ago, then you are definitely too weak now. So shut up, stand still, and let me clean up the mess I made."

I grimace as Red X places his hands on my stomach and sides. His fingers trace the deep cuts which I got when I twisted against those metal wires. All of my instincts scream at me to tell him off, but the fear of me collapsing from lack of blood overpowers them.

Instead, I stand motionless and dignified while he examines my wounds. He's certainly no qualified doctor, but he seems to know enough about what he's doing. I hear Red X mumble something. Kinda sounds like. "My god. Oh my god." When he's done examing the extent of my wound, his gloves are soaked with blood. Those wires must have cut deeper than I thought.

How queer. I'm no stranger to the sight of blood, yet my stomach churns like a washing machine when I see my own blood staining his hands, and my clothes, and the floor... There's just so much of it.

Suddenly, the ground starts to spin like a merry-go-round. I teeter around, then hear a dull thud as the floor jumps up into me.

"Raven!" Cries out a blurry image of my doctor. "Don't try to get up, I know what to do."

Something, must be my cloak, tugs at my neck and I hear a distant tearing sound.

"Here, try to sit up for a sec. Don't worry, I'm here to help you."

I comply, but I don't have much say in the issue anyways. A hand is placed on my back and props me up into a sitting position. My head hangs back limply while two faded visions of Red X lean over me. They tie a tattered blue cloth tightly around my waist then gently lay me down again. When they are done, they both stand and say in perfect unison.

"I need to get something real quick Raven. Don't move until I get back. Understand?"

I nod slightly, but then a better idea comes to me. I can't believe that neither of the Red X's thought of it.

"Why don't one you two stay by my side while the other goes? I think that would be nice..."

They stand confused for a moment then shake their heads and hurry off.

"Heh, heh, heh."

One of them nearly ran into the double doors as they ran out. How funny.

"Heh, heh, heh. Heh, heh, heh."

I must have lost a TON of blood to be laughing this much. Then again, I couldn't have lost that much blood 'cause that one book says humans don't have much more than ten pounds of blood. Hmm...

My musings are disrupted by the Red X's reentering the room. Before I know it, a glass of water is pressed up against my lips. However, I'm not that thirsty, so I shut my mouth tight.

"Drink this Raven. It isn't a medicine per se, but it will numb your senses and take the edge off of your pain." Explains one of the Red X's.

The other says: "Don't worry it's the same medication I've been giving you for the past few days. You'll want to take some before your previous dosage wears off completely."

Reluctantly, I allow the doctors to feed me the entirety of the tasteless liquid. It isn't working though. I don't think anything changed at all.

"Very good, now let's get you into a nice, soft bed."

"Okay," I say sloppily.

Red X, I'm not sure where the other one went, lifts me to my feet and carries the majority of my weight as we stumble over to behind the stack of cardboard boxes. He's practically carrying me on his shoulders by the time we get there. I resist the urge to say "whee!"

When we get there, the place where I first saw Red X that morning, he sets me down on a make-shift bed. I cuddle the blankets up against me until I am comfortable. Once I feel super relaxed, I look dollishly up at Red X and say in a serious voice.

"The bandage you gave me... It's my favorite color. Thank you"

Red X chuckles and sits down on the bedside.

"Well, that's because..." he pauses midsentence and shakes his head. "De rien."

I don't know if it's because of the medication he gave me or all of the blood I lost, but I find something about his decision to reply in French utterly hilarious. I laugh.

"Heh, heh heh, heh."

My laughter appears to put Red X in a good mood.

"You like that? Let me try a few more jokes while I have a 'captive' audience."

I can't stop laughing. "Heh heh heh. Ha haha hah!"

Red X also starts to laugh. "Haha. I'll try a real joke now. A rabbi, a Quaker, and a German Admiral are on a cruise ship..."

I can't hear anything more. The sound of laughter is too loud. My eyelids begin to tighten, but I resist the temptation to sleep and open them. Then the room grows shadowy agan, but I manage to open my eyes one more time. Finally, I no longer have the urge to laugh. Instead, I... The room grows dark again. Instead I feel like sleeping.

In my last moments of consciousness, I feel the boy in white pulling a blanket over me and placing a hand on my shoulder. The mantra he whispers is different this time though. It sounds nonsensical and meaningless to me, yet he sure does like repeating it.

"I take responsibility..."

There's something more to it, but the siren call of the shadows is far more interesting. With a smile on my face, I drift into the darkness.


End file.
